ARE YOU MORE FOCUSED THAN A GOLDFISH?

We live in a fast paced world. Most of us can read an article on Buzz Feed, while cooking dinner, helping with homework and browsing through strangers’ perfect pictures on Instagram, all at the same time. Yes, we have perfected the art of multitasking to the point that if we don't have at least four or five balls flying in the air at all times, we feel like we're not doing enough and god forbid, WE ARE BORED.

Most people see this as a good thing. Young people brag about how they can watch a whole Netflix show whilst writing a paper for school and chatting to their mates on WhatsApp. But the dark side of this bionic ability we have adopted is the loss of our attention span.

For those who are unfamiliar with that term allow me to explain:

Attention span is the amount of concentrated time a person can spend on a task without becoming distracted, and the reason it is so important is because the ability to focus and sustain attention on a task, is crucial for the achievement of one's goals.

In other words, if you can't pay attention for long enough and you are easily distracted, then chances are that you will struggle to finish things.

Pretty simple logic there.

What is interesting is that research revealed that the average human attention span is now a pathetic eight seconds. This low number can be compared to 12 seconds back in 2000 before the mobile revolution began, but the even more interesting thing to compare to is the 9 seconds of the common goldfish.

Yeah, you heard me - goldfish have longer attention spans than humans do.

And if you have read this far then I am happy to tell you that your attention span is longer than the current average, so congratulations. I am sure you could have been doing at least five other things but perhaps you will see the benefit in focusing on one thing at a time.

It seems very 80's I know, but you might actually achieve more than a goldfish!